Valkyrie
by villainsdontgethappyendings
Summary: AU - One-shot in which Rumpelstiltskin didn't flee the battlefield.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is another drabble I wrote on Tumblr a while ago, figured I'd post it here too. An AU one-shot (posted in two chapters because it's a tad longer than I planned it to be) in which Rumpelstiltskin didn't flee the battlefield. Inspired by this music.**

* * *

He couldn't do it.

Rumple let out the breath he'd been holding with gasp, carefully lowering his arms to place the sledgehammer down safely beside him. He couldn't do it. His whole life he had wanted to shirk the reputation his father had dragged along with them; the brand of a coward. The whole village knew Malcolm to be a coward, and in turn, had expected the same of Rumple despite him doing nothing to deserve the title. Tarred with the same brush purely by relation…Rumple couldn't let that happen to Milah and his unborn child. True, injuring himself would ensure he was sent home alive, but was that truly better? If he stayed and died in battle, he'd leave his child fatherless just as his father had…albeit with more honour. If he injured himself and went home, his child would have a father, but also inherit the same judging glances for being "the son of a coward" that Rumple had experienced his whole life.

The man's legs went weak with fear, desperation clinging to his heart and pulling a sob from his chest as he fell to his knees. There was nothing he could do…everything he believed in, everything he had promised himself he would not do, was going to happen. Either his child was left fatherless…or chained to a coward for a father.

_…Would his son feel the same, bitter resentment for him as Rumple had his own father? _

If he fought and died…would the honour and knowledge of his father's bravery be enough to outweigh the sorrow?

In his heart of hearts, Rumple knew that his unborn child was not the only reason he had debated fleeing.

"…_I don't want to die…_" The man whispered to himself, his voice strangled by the sobs in his throat, "_I don't want to die_…"

"…I don't want to die…"

As Rumple landed on his back on the wet mud of the battlefield, bloodied and defeated, the same words echoed that had been plaguing his mind and dragging the burden of fear along with him from the moment he arrived at the front lines.

He was deaf to the charging feet that rushed by, ignored by soldier and ogre alike as being just another fallen soldier upon the ground. One of many.

_This is it_. He thought, his eyes fixed on the sky above him.

_I'm going to die here_.

He couldn't move, his legs and arms heavy and numb with cold, his uniform clinging to him in patches of blood, mud and sweat. As he lay prone on the ground, staring up at the blue skies, Rumple inwardly wondered how such _peace _could seem so close to the raging war below, hovering just above them…

He could feel a wound weeping in his hairline, blotting the grey flecks in his hair crimson, a rivulet of blood sneaking out of the corner of his mouth and sliding down his face and down his neck to be soaked up by his matted hair under his head.

Rumple wanted to reach up and brush it away, but his arms simply wouldn't listen. Nothing was listening to him except his lungs, that complained and creaked as the man forced them to pull air into his broken body.

He had fought well enough, assisting in the take down of a few ogres, surprising himself when his body acted on an instinct he never knew he had and fought with more strength than he knew was within him. But one strike from one of the monsters was all it took - an ogre had charged towards them, swinging its huge arm out in an arc and sweeping aside a whole unit of soldiers, Rumple included in their number, in a blink of an eye. They'd been flung high into the air, landing scattered across the field. Rumple could feel where the ogre's arm had connected with his torso, shattering his ribs like glass, his right leg twisted and crumpled from the impact of his fall.

_I'm going to die here_.

_…The Seer was right…my son…I'm so sorry…_

Still staring at the skies, a tear slipped from the corner of Rumple's eye, trickling down his temple. Had he the strength, he would have broken down into fits of sobbing…but he _couldn't_. Instead, Rumple closed his eyes against it all, praying against the odds that he might survive…somehow…for his son.

So when something brushed against his cheek, Rumple's heart plummeted - was he going to be saved or killed? Was it a soldier with aid, or had an ogre stepped near him and noticed he was still breathing?

_I don't want to die…oh please, I don't want to die…_ Rumple thought resolutely, forcing his eyes open with whatever courage he had left to blot out his self-despised cowardly nature to meet whatever had come for him…

…The sight took his weakened breath away. A beautiful woman, dressed in gold, was looking down at him with amazingly clear, blue eyes. A set of white wings framed her, soft and pure, stretched out either side of her. She offered Rumple a sad smile.

"I'm suppose to ignore pleas like that." She said, a sadness threading through her light voice, "When I come to collect the fallen warriors…many plead for their lives…"

Rumple was stunned, his silence a combination of shock and the pain of his injuries. Eventually, he managed to draw a rattling breath and speak, his voice barely above a whisper:

"P-Please…I…I have…to see…my son…"

The angelic creature gave Rumple another sad smile, her face wracked with pity and guilt.

"He's waiting for you? At home?"

Rumple managed to shake his head.

"N-No…not yet…my wife…sh-she is…"

"Your wife is with child?" The woman recoiled a little, conflict tearing at her heart. "You haven't yet met your child…"

"…No…"

The woman looked away for a moment, her eyes glancing to the skies.

"…I'm going to pay a steep price for this…" She mumbled, before looking down at Rumple, "…But your child shall not be fatherless. My name is Belle…I am a Valkyrie. We take the fallen from the field of battle, it's our duty, our lives…I was sent to take you."

"…P-please…please…I don't want….to d-die…" Rumple mewled, his vision swimming as darkness began to bite at the edges of his vision, threatening to pull him into the cold grips of death. "…I don't want to die…"

Warm hands cupped his face, sinking deep into his chilled skin and driving out the cold dark that threatened to claim him. He closed his eyes, the comforting touch soothing him.

"…And you _won't_." Belle's voice chimed in the dark, "…You're going to _live_, Rumpelstiltskin."


	2. Chapter 2

When Rumple blearily opened his eyes next, he was lying in the makeshift hospital of the soldier's camp. The place was packed full with injured soldiers, groaning and sobbing…but _alive_.

The spinner pushed himself up, and instantly regretted his attempt, his bound ribs burning under the pressure and forcing him to lie back down and catch his breath against the pain. He closed his eyes again for a moment as he collected himself, trying to recall the events of the battle…and immediately trying to push them back out again.

Footsteps drove him from his reverie and he opened his eyes, looking up at the unit leader standing by his bed.

"You fought well, soldier. Reports from the battlefield were impressive. Didn't expect that from you." The man noted gruffly. Rumple frowned, unsure of whether to take the compliment or the insult…

"…Thank you…" He muttered, deciding he didn't have the energy to complain.

"Thank your injuries and lucky stars. You fought well, _and _you lived. Honour _and _life. Not many get that. Someone's watching over you."

Rumple looked down at his injuries, noting his shattered right leg was bound stiffly to splints, practically held in shape by them. He wouldn't be able to _walk _again, let alone fight. The knockback of the ogre's strike had sent him so high into the air that when he landed his leg shattered under him, that much he remem—

_Someone's watching over you_.

—Belle!

The angel, the Valkyrie…she'd saved him from the jaws of death, healing him just in time…_saving _him. He'd have bled out on the battlefield had she not…

"—I said, are you looking forward to seeing your family again?"

"Ah, yes…yes." Rumple stammered, nodding to the unit leader. A small smile crept on his face as the words sunk in properly. "…Yes."

When Rumple limped through the door, Milah rushed to greet him, immediately taking his free arm over her shoulders to help him across the room to sit in a chair. Once his weight was off his crushed leg, Rumple leaned back with a sigh of relief, his bruised and broken ribs thankful for the rest too. Milah sat by him, worrying over his injuries, the cut in his hairline that had been stitched closed, the swathes of bandages around his torso, his splinted leg.

"Milah…_Milah_…I'm alright…_Milah_!" Rumple tried to assure the worried woman, taking her hands in his and making her look at him. "…I'm _alive_." He smiled, "I_fought_. And _survived_."

Milah finally smiled, her worrying melting away with the relief of her husband's return.

"Yes…yes you _did_…you fought bravely, Rumple…I'm _so _proud of you!" She beamed, eye glittering with tears, "And someone else is proud of you too…"

She rose from her seat and made her way to the corner of the room, where a cradle stood. She scooped up the bundle wrapped in blankets, holding him gently to her, before walking back over to Rumple. "Say hello…to little Baelfire…" Milah smiled warmly, handing the child to Rumple. At a loss for words, despite being told by the Seer of his son's existence, Rumple took hold of Baelfire, cradling him gently against his chest.

"…Hello, Bae…" He said softly to the sleeping baby in his arms, his voice choked with emotion, "…._Hello, son_…"

Later that night, when Milah finally managed to pry Baelfire from Rumple's arms and put the baby back in his cradle to rest, Rumple took up his walking stick and began hobbling to the door. Milah was up in an instant.

"Rumple, where are you going?"

"The well…I need some water. The doctors said to clean and change my bandages." He explained, pausing at the door to look back at Milah with a reassuring smile, "I'll be fine."

"I'll go, you sit down, you must be exhausted." Milah protested, already fetching her cloak.

"No no, I can manage…I won't be long." Rumple assured her, "Promise."

Milah paused for a moment, looking like she might argue, but let out a sigh through her nostrils, setting her cloak aside.

"Alright…but if you need help, come back, won't you?"

"Promise."

Rumple stepped out into the night air, hobbling across the village to the well at the edge of the woods. His steps were unsure and shaky, unused to his condition and the walking stick he now had to use, but he eventually made it to the well. He set the staff to lean against the bricked wall of the well, and set about drawing the bucket from the well when a sound at the treeline caught his attention. Rumple looked up sharply…and nearly fell over backwards at the sight.

There, sitting in the grass at the edge of the forest, looking forlorn and cold…was Belle. The Valkyrie that had saved him on the battlefield…only now, her wings were absent, two holes in the back of her dress over her shoulder-blades the only sign she had ever had them.

Rumple took a step forward, forgetting his staff from the shock, and immediately crumpled to the ground. The sound made Belle look up.

"…Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Belle! A-Are you alright? Why are you here?" Rumple stammered, crawling over to the former angel, walking stick and leg be damned. Belle gave him a sad smile, wiping the evidence of tears from her weeping away from her face.

"I am…_was…_a Valkyrie. I told you…our duty is to take the fallen from the battlefield to the afterlife. I didn't…I saved you. I shirked my duty and I paid the price…I…I am cast out. Wingless…alone…"

Rumple's brow creased, confusion and sadness of his own washing over him.

"Wh-_why_? If you knew that was the price, why did you save me? I'm nobody, I'm just…I'm just _me_."

"…I don't know." Belle sniffed, "I…I just _had_ to."

They sat in silence for a moment, Rumple shrugging off his cloak to wrap it around the frozen woman.

"…Then the least I can do is help you find a new home…you can't stay outside all night, you'll freeze."

Belle glanced up at Rumple, her blue gaze settling on his dark eyes. She smiled, the first smile Rumple had seen on her that was not tinged with sadness.

"…_Thank you_…"


End file.
